Tag: fat shaming

A brand new Netflix dark comedy Insatiable due for an August release has caused outrage with its first trailer. Debbie Ryan plays Patty an overweight teenage girl who over the summer loses a lot of weight due to having her jaw wired shut, she returns to school and seeks revenge of those who bullied her.

First of all are we really doing high school revenge plot again? that was already done badly in 13 Reasons Why and secondly why is it another cliché she’s a hot popular girl now she’s lost tons of weight (rolls eyes).

This might be described as a satirical or dark comedy but how awful is the body suit for the larger Patty they could have made her body look more realistic and why must it be she can only seek revenge on the bullies when she is thin, why seek revenge at all?

A lot of people feel this show is body shaming and will cause eating disorders amongst viewers who feel that if they are overweight they’ll also be bullied or that the only way to be accepted is to be thin and popular which I can agree with as it is an overly used narrative that you must look a certain way in high school to fit in.

It may not have been the creators intentions but couldn’t it have shown a larger confident girl happy with her weight or only changing her size because she wants to and not because she physically cant eat? Yes people get bullied at school due to their weight or appearance but this is giving audiences the green light to seek revenge, making them no better than the bullies or making people feel their worth is based on their size.

A petition is spreading over the internet to get the programme cancelled before it is even aired which just proves how much of a fail it is and that audiences are not okay with body shaming.

Netflix had the chance to positively represent body image and mental health and again it has fallen short in favour of the stereotypical narrative which needs to be redefined to cater to all audiences.